You still seem to miss the point for the vast majority of fliers airline tickets are bought as a commodity not a service. So price is the only decision factor and again this discussion was why is US's earning ability is lower than OALs and it is because of the markets served and not the service as many here keep repeating.
I for one would LOVE to see the supporting "metrics" on your point as it is one of perspective not facts right now.
What I do know for a fact is that multiple surveys show that all other things being equal, the airlines frequent flyer program will be the deciding factor. That's why in this era of declining service airlines are enhancing those programs.
The problem as I see it is the true LCC's now have the pricing power as opposed to the legacy carriers due to their growth in market share as they have expanded in general term while the legacy carrier continue to cede routes where the competition is fierce. (Think US @ LAS) and gouge customers where they have monopoly's on direct flights in an effort to recover lost revenue where they compete against LCC's.
Why do you think US has never gone into several what would seem to be obvious opportunities in South America? Many of these destinations have Spirit providing service. Spirit can price their tickets above cost and force US to bleed like a stuck on EVERY flight. Another example of an LCC having the pricing power. So in a sense the your point has some validity, to a point. YES, consumers are very price sensitive! Will they spend more to get more? YES the problem isn't that they won't spend more it's that they won't spend enough on a ticket to bridge the Price/Profit gap. So given that the LCC's now have the pricing power a consumer actually has some pretty good choices out there.
For the Ultra Cheap you have Spirit! An airline that frankly does IMO the best job of managing their customer's expectations. Customers are told to expect nothing and pay up for anything that resembles an amenity. Not my cup of Java, however you have to respect that they have a profitable business model.
The WN/F9/B6 value proposition. Fair Fares, good (not great) Frequent flyer programs. All three have a bit of a different twist on their on board experience. My personal preference is Frontier
Then we have the traditional hub and spoke gang, DL AA & CO/UA - These folks have much deeper coverage. None of the above are going to fly to Helena, MT anytime soon. But the three remaining legacy carriers will and usually for a pretty good premium. The also offer F/C service and have my overseas flight east and west. Most have put in some fees.
Then we have US Airways. Neither a true legacy despite membership in the Star Alliance or true LCC. Amenities are minimal and often below those of the LCC's. This airline is trying to emulate two business models. When it comes to fees it wants to be Spirit. When it comes to positioning in the market it acts like a legacy with an ULCC(NK) fee structure and a legacy route map with the a minimal attempt at providing legacy level service/amenities.
Frankly the reason US employees make on average 13% LESS than their peers on legacy carriers is that the leadership hasn't been able despite a healthy profit this year to find a way to consistently compete against any of the business models above. We know this because US has stated publically that all of the profit came from fees. So ponder what this years financials would look like if labor cost were 13% higher?
The two airlines that most clearly define who they are in the marketplace IMO are NK & WN. It would be prudent to note that they are both profitable and have been for awhile. Spirit struggled for a while until the new model took hold. My sources tell me that they are pretty much rolling in dough as much as any airline can be.
US is a failed business model that screws the employee and customer in order to earn a profit, pure and simple and the sooner we face that the sooner we can move on.
